


When blood dries, it's wasted

by RavenShira



Series: Blood Ties [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Gen, Vampire Hunters, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2019-07-09
Packaged: 2019-07-27 11:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16217768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenShira/pseuds/RavenShira
Summary: Sakura was born this way. Contrary to popular belief, vampires did exist. And equally contrary to belief, they (mostly) weren't bloodthirsty fiends out to seduce and drain any human being that crossed their path. With careful diet, many things could be avoided. Even the sunlight could be braved after a while.Really, being a vampire was a little bit like having a kekkei genkai. With a lot of perks and quite a few drawbacks that were connected with blood. It wasn't even like Vampires were the only ones that had abilities tied to blood either.They just lived longer.





	1. The meaning of death

The first time Sakura noticed that she was not quite the same as other people, was when her parents died. She was three, maybe four years old when her mother rushed into her room, throwing the door close behind her and falling to her knees, drawing Sakura into her arms in a desperate and stifling, bordering on painful hug. Sakura had been playing past her bedtime and she guiltily held still, little hands buried in her mothers clothes as she held on, trying to come up with the right words to defend herself.

“Sakura, darling...” her mother whispered before Sakura had the chance to make her stance, hastily ripping a blanket from the bed and swaddling her child in it. “There is no time to explain...!” Confused, the little girl squirmed in the grip as her mother gathered her up again and ran to the nearby window. She opened it with one hand while her other securely held her daughter in her arms.

“Mummy?” She asked dazed, the going ons around her too quick and bewildering to follow as her hands gripped the blanket tight.

“You need to leave.” her mother said forcefully, carefully lowering her out of the window and to the ground outside.

“Run. Run, and don't turn back. Never tell anyone about us and... and...” her mother choked on the words as she reached out, leaning out of the window to drop a kiss on Sakura's head as she did every night.

“I love you so, so much. Never forget that.”

“Mummy?” Sakura asked, even as her mother gently shoved her further away.

“Run. And hide yourself. Now!” Her mother's sharp tone made Sakura back off a hesitant step, but the longing look in her eyes made her want to return and cling to her mummy until she stopped looking so sad. Mummy stared at her for a moment longer, almost drinking her in as she closed the window before she resolutely turned her back. Sakura wanted to cry, confused and frightened by her behaviour as she cried out desperately.

“ _Mummy??_ ”

Sakura inched closer, trying to reach the window despite it being closed now. She was too small, not even able to reach the windowsill from this far down. She backed off again in an endeavour to manage another glance inside the room again. She flinched when the door was violently kicked in, dark figures swarming into the soft pink place Sakura called her own, dressed in black from head to toe, with wild raven hair and cold stares. Her mother stood tall and proud, a copy of Sakura in her arms.

Sakura didn't understand.

Who were these men, with eyes as red as her fathers sometimes?

It was cold outside, why had mummy pushed her out without shoes and why did she ignored her now?

She didn't understand, but her mother had told her to run, to hide. Sakura turned around and saw a bush nearby. She didn't want to leave but she also wanted to obey her mother. She hid between the branches, cowering in the shadows. Her eyes were drawn back to the window when light flared. A bright, orange, yellow that continued to grow and grow. And then the screams started, high pitched and painful. Sakura froze as she recognized her mothers voice, then curled up and tried to muffle the noise by putting her hands over her ears. Silent tears dripped down her cheeks, still not quite understanding what was happening but she knew to be silent. There was danger. The men poured out of the house after a moment, standing silently around and watching.

Watching and listening to her mother scream and scream and then...

Then she stopped. Only the fire crackling disturbed the night. Neighbours came out of the houses around, alarmed, pointing fingers.

None helped.

Sakura watched, silently crying as everything she knew turned to ash.

She hid with her blanket in the bush, warmed by the fire that killed her family. The men were long gone.

She stayed until people came that used strange abilities to conjure water. Then she slipped away, staying in the shadows as she slipped quietly past the people surrounding her childhood home.

A look back revealed the blurry picture of destruction, charred wooden beams folding into themselves.

She put a hand over the mouth to stifle the sounds, to terrified to draw notice of anyone around her.

She disappeared, nobody taking notice of the small toddler wobbling away. She knew the way to the park, so that's where she went. Her parents always found her, no matter how well she hid herself.

Crawling into the little house at the playground she curled up and waited.

She waited the whole night, dozing off every now and then and startling awake again at random times.

Desperately she clutched her blanket close.

Slowly the sun started to rise as Sakura hiccuped and then finally started to cry. Big heaving sobs that usually made her parents come and look what was wrong. Not this time though. Never had her parents left her alone for this long and Sakura was scared!

She didn't understand.

But she knew that there were dangerous people around, and her mother had told her to hide...

Sakura was good at that. The best. Only her father seemed to have no trouble to find her, no matter where she was.

She managed to stay hidden for about two weeks before she found out that her parents were dead. A concept she couldn't really fathom yet. Where did the dead go, and when would they stop being dead? She went through dumpsters for food that tended to make her sick and avoided other people where she could. It was lonely, but there was this dog that shared the same alley as her and would cuddle up to her at night. He smelled strongly of the waste they were digging through together and wet fur, but he was warm and Sakura felt so lonely, so hungry and so hopeless. She cuddled up to him, clinging to the shaggy fur as if her life depended on it, burying her head into his side.

She managed to live on the streets for nearly a month, before her first craving overwhelmed her. She looked at the dog that had been her companion during that time, looked at her bloody hands and back at the lifeless animal. She shook his limp body, tears gathering in her eyes as her mind slowly worked through what had happened.

That was the day she finally comprehended what death meant.

It was the day she knew she was different.

It was the day she resolved to do as her mother had told her:

**Hide.**


	2. A humans diet

Sakura cowered away from the adults that had _captured_ her while she had been sleeping. A child, alone at night in a dirty backalley, covered in dried blood and whimpering in her sleep, had raised their alarm. Usually Sakura would have startled awake sooner simply due to picking up on the heartbeats around her getting closer, but this time she hadn't managed to hide before they had seen her.

Curling up she cowered away from their reaching hands, heart thundering in her chest as she pressed herself into the corner. Her eyes tracked their movement, always returning to their eyes as she checked for the strange red monstrous glow that the people that invaded her home had sported.

 

“Shh, it's alright...” the woman with the gleaming headband said while crouching in front of Sakura, who peeked though the fringes of her dirty hair. She was pale, younger than Sakura's parents had been with purple hair and dark grey eyes. Her partner stood behind her, frowning at them with one scarred eye closed. His hair was silver, gleaming in the sun, arms crossed and he looked like he would rather be anywhere but close to Sakura. Sakura could empathise. She didn't want them close either.

 

“We mean you no harm...” the woman said as she carefully and gently smiled at Sakura. If it had been before random men had put fire to her house, Sakura might have been willing to believe her.

 

Right now though she pressed herself into the wall as if she bricks would swallow her up and protect her from the reaching hands. She flinched as the hand came closer, clutching the dirty blanket to her body and whimpered when the woman carefully touched her shoulder. Stiff as a board Sakura let herself be drawn closer. One one side she revelled in the warmth, the contact to another living being after being ripped from her family so aprubtly. On the other she could almost hear the blood rushing though the body of the woman, feel the urge to feed. She was just so hungry. Almost as hungry as when she had killed that dog.

 

The thought of that made Sakura panic and start to struggle against the arms closing around her.

  
“Letgoletgoletgo” she chanted, little hands shoving ineffectively against the warmth surrounding her. Tears were welling up unbidden, more due to being scared than sad as she kicked and tried her best to get free. She almost managed, but then the woman dragged her closer again, pressing her against her chest as warm hands ran gently up and down her spine, so similar to her mother's warm embrace that Sakura stilled on instinct.

  
“Shh.” she said but...

 

The neck was right there. Before Sakura knew what she was doing, her teeth dug into the skin and the coppery warm taste of blood filled her mouth even as salty tears dripped down Sakura's cheeks, leaving dirty trails behind. The woman yelped and pulled away, wincing in pain when Sakura's teeth were dragged out of her wound. Sakura started to sob in earnest, big, salty tears trailing down her cheeks as she crawled back to the wall, huddling against it with her blanket close to her chest. She was going to die. Mummy had said to hide and Sakura hadn't been able to. She was going to die and-

 

Arms circled around her, a hand going on her head and carefully stoking her hair. It only made Sakura cry harder, because the last time-

 

The last time-

 

“It's alright. Don't be scared, we will get you somewhere safe.”

 

Sakura wished she could tell her that nowhere was safe. That there were men and woman around, with red eyes and fire, who would come and destroy any safety that could be found.

 

Instead leaves swirled around her, wind rushing past as did the scenery. The sharp scent of medicine , blood and antiseptic stung her sensitive nose as the woman carried Sakura into the hospital.

 

There, she was checked over. She cowered away from the people.

She was cleaned up and listened to the whispers around her.

 

Malnourished. Low red blood cell count. Low body temperature.

 

But otherwise alright, nothing that couldn't be fixed.

 

Sakura hated it. There was a dip connected to her that made her nauseous, blankets around her. She had refused to let go of her blanky. The only thing that she still owned, apart from the clothes on her back. A red wool blanky that now resembled a dirty brown. A nurse had wanted to wash it but Sakura had nearly broken down crying when the woman had tried to take it from her. Instead they had compromised to wash it together in the sink and hang it up to dry in her room.

 

They kept her long enough to make sure she was alright.

 

Afterwards she was send to an orphanage.

 

She hated the place, but it was better than being on the streets. Other kids teased her about her strange looks, another tried to steal blanky. She had scratched him bloody when he had tried, licking the blood from her fingers hungrily afterwards as she watched him run from the room crying. At dinner the kids squabbled over food, stealing it from her plate. She was almost thankful for that last one as it made it easier to pretend to eat. She had learned by now that she simply couldn't stomach too much of the food others considered normal. Huge amounts made her sick, but small amounts were not enough to sate her hunger. She had never really looked at what her mother had given her. She had thought it was soup, or something to drink. She hadn't even known other people needed to eat that much. For her only a small amount was enough but...

 

She needed blood. She knew that much now, even though she didn't know the reason why.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was sitting on that chapter for a while, because I was undecided if I should go the long route and explain stuff or the short way and just timeskip to the juicy parts.
> 
> Long way won out. Kill me now.
> 
> Happy early Christmas to you! :)


	3. A taste of blood and friendship

“Look at that large forehead!!” The boy that was talking was older than her by a few years. He had mousy brown hair and flinty eyes and a mean smile as he pointed at her. Self-conscious, Sakura tried to comb her hair a little more into her face to hide, clutching her blanket tight for comfort.

 

“Haha, it's so ugly.” Another one agreed and Sakura pulled her legs closer to her body, cowering and trying to curl into herself. She was sitting at the foot of a large tree. The three boys towered over her. They were mean, stealing food from other children at the orphanage and taking their things. Sakura had tried to stay clear of them, but it seemed her luck had run out and her grace period of being the new kid was now officially over.

 

To make herself appear smaller, she hunched her shoulders and wearily peaked at the boys through the fringe of her hair.

 

“W-what do you want?” Her voice wobbled uncertainly. Maybe they would leave her alone if they just got what they wanted.

 

“Huuuuuh?!” The leader of the small group said, leaning forward and into her personal space. Sakura's eyes flicked to his throat and the throbbing vein that was bared to her. Her stomach rumbled hungrily, saliva pooling in her mouth and she quickly lowered her gaze. It didn't make her stop hearing the rushing of his blood and she tightened her arms around herself. She couldn't _eat_ him. People would notice.

 

H̞̱̱̖̻͍͓i̸̸̱͎̟̟̰̬̣d̥̙͢e̺̖̳͎.͔͎̪̲̠̘̯̼

 

 

“What'cha mean want. Why would I want anything from you, ugly?!” She wanted to disappear as the boy grabbed her hair and tugged roughly at it. A low, pained whine escaped her as she scrabbled at his hand, trying to dislodge the grip he had as tears prickled at her eyes. Her teeth _ached_. Her stomach was gnawing and she was just _**so, so hungry-**_

 

She saw the moment the kid's eyes found the ruby-red of her blanket, saw how his other hand snatched it up greedily with a laugh, taking the last piece of her family from her.

 

“What'cha have here, huh??” He said with a small shake of the hand still holding onto her hair.

 

“Give it back!!” It was hers. That was her blanky and he couldn't take it from her. He couldn't! And for all that she was scared and outnumbered, she didn't care how her scalp hurt from the consistent tugging on her hair. Her blanky, she needed to get her blanky back. She lashed out, trying to reach her blanket which he now held out of reach, over his head and a little behind him. He was too tall and Sakura just couldn't reach it!

 

Tears prickled at her eyes again, a burning sensation born of frustration and anger this time rather than fear and hurt.

 

“It's mine!! Give it back!!” Her voice grew louder in her distress, drawing attention of the other kids around. But all they did was look over, before slinking off, too scared of being the next target of the kid in front of her.

 

Nobody would help her.

 

Nobody would ever help her, especially if she ate him. She couldn't count on anyone, because the only ones that she could have trusted had been _burned to ash_ and this bully wanted to take what was left! Crying out once more she struggled and kicked, until he released her with a curse, but instead of retreating she launched herself at him again.

 

Her blanky. Hers and she wouldn't give it up! Her small body rode his slightly bigger one to the ground, driving the air out of him as she landed on top of him and her hands finally gripped er blanket and pulled. But he refused to give it up and suddenly there was the taste of blood in her mouth, and he screamed. Sakura hardly noticed, taking a few greedy mouthful of blood and comping down harder on the arm between her teeth, pulling her blanket to her as his grip released. The other two kids were there, jerking and kicking at her and Sakura felt tears pour down over her cheeks but stubbornly held on and bit down harder. And then, suddenly, there was another kid punching one of her bullies in the face and Sakura finally let go of the leaders arm, blood smeared around her mouth as the bully howled in pain and curled up around his arm on the ground while she scrambled back until she hit the tree. The other kid was... was defending her? He was fighting the other kids, viciously and taking quite a few hits himself. Sakura blinked, licking the blood of her lips as her blurry sight followed his movements and the other two kids retreated, towing their crying leader back with them.

 

Nobody would help her. The people with the red eyes, they would return and _burnheralivewhile_ s̜̺he͙̥̬̰̙͇̙s͈̬̩̻̞͚c̙͠r̞̰̩̻̺̺ͅe̻̠͍̱a͇̯m̧e͜ḏ̝a͙͓̹͇̲̘̩̦͈n̸̜͖͖͔͝d̢̲̲͢ **s̸̡̛̖̪̙̬͔ç̪̹̮ŗ̰̪̥͈͈͍̭̺̬e̡̹̱͓̬̦͙̤̞͢a̼̞͔ṃ̛͍ę̢̺̝͚̫̭d̴̸̫̗̱̜͕̜͔͓ͅa̸̛͙̻̦̱̗̹̩̟̠͘n̜͍̺͔̮͇̭̳͎̥̫͕̺̪̦̮͢d̸̴̯̤͔̪͔̠̭̗͈̝͡͠** -

 

 

 

“Are you okay?” concerned sky-blue eyes swam in front of her face, making her realize how fast her heart was beating compared to his, especially when he seemed to calm down as she panicked more. His face framed by wild sunshine coloured hair. He was so bright and a hand reached for her but pulled back when she flinched.

 

“Y-yes?” Sakura asked back, feeling wrong footed as she was faced by this other kid. She was gasping for breath. Her ribs hurt from the kicks that had collided with her, her hair was in disarray and her scalp hurt fiercely, almost headache inducing after the abuse it had taken. The other kid only grinned in response and plopped himself down in front of her. He... radiated warmth and Sakura itched to be closer and curl up next to him. Her heartbeat slowly settled, leaving her shaken as she took comfort from his presence.

 

“That's good. You were really cool!!” he said, clearly unconcerned that she had just drunk blood from that other kid. Or maybe... maybe he hadn't noticed? Maybe he thought she had just... what, tried to fight back? If that was so then... then fighting was useful. It drew attention but at the same time it subtly hid her differences.

 

“Uh... you should probably clean up though.” The bright kid mentioned to her mouth and Sakura flushed. There probably was still blood smeared around her face. Her hand came up and wiped as the mess, trying to repress the urge to lick the blood from her fingers when they came back covered in a sticky red mess. She probably just succeeded in smearing it around more, because the kid shuffled closer to her, making her stiffen at his approach. But he lifted a corner of his shirt and used that to wipe around her mouth, even as Sakura watched him wearily.

 

“There you go!” He said and sounded so satisfied that he had helped her that Sakura couldn't repress a shy smile breaking out over her face, even as she ducked her face when she saw him puff up proudly.

 

“T-thank you.”

 

“I'm Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto, and and and! I'm going to become Hokage!” the kid finally introduced herself, leaving Sakura unsure how to handle all that bright, excited loudness aimed at her. She blinked a few times, but when she saw his face fall, she hurried to introduce herself back.

 

“S-Sakura.” She whispered into her arms, peering cautiously at Naruto, who beamed back at her.

 

“Y'know! Y'know! You're really strong and pretty. Let's be friends!”

 

“Friends?” Sakura whispered, unsurely.

 

“Uhn!” Naruto nodded empirically, crossing his hands over his chest. “Life long friends! Bestest friends in the whole world! Believe it! I'ma have your back and you'll have mine and when I become Hokage you can be... uuhh... whatever you want! Yeah.”

 

He was so incredible enthusiastic, and it was infecting that even Sakura's mind jumped to the future possibilities. What did she want? Apart from the obvious and impossible.

 

She wanted to live.

 

She wanted her family.

 

She wanted to be safe.

 

“I... I don't really know what I want to be in the future...” Sakura mumbled, looking down at the blanky. Her fingers clutched it tightly.

 

“That's okay!” He said, kicking his legs in the dirt and pulling up a bit of grass. “You will be kickass in whatever you want to do.”

 

Sakura giggled and Naruto grinned back at her. Right until he saw the caretakers storm out of the building towards them. Sakura curled up more, heart pounding in her chest. She could hear Naruto's heartrate pick up until it sounded like a hummingbirds, even as he scrambled up to face the incensed matron of the orphanage.

 

“You! Again!” she gripped Naruto tight around his arm, shaking him non to gently and Sakura watched him wince at the rough handling. Sakura felt her heart twist at the sight.

 

“Biting that poor boy, what are you, a savage??!?” She yelled and Sakura squirmed. It had been her that had bit the kid after all.

 

“Uh...” Shakily she got to her feet, trembling where she stood. But Naruto had been nice to her.

 

_Bestest friends in the whole world!_

 

He... he wanted to be her friend.

 

“A-ano! S-sorry but... but I bit that kid?” She whimpered, tugging at the matrons sleeve until she slowly turned to her, a confused and bewildered look crossing her face before settling on anger and snapping back to Naruto.

 

“And now you are even corrupting a sweet little girl like Sakura to cover for you?! Have you no shame?!”

 

Sakura stared shocked at the matron. She had just told the truth. Why was the caretaker still going after Naruto when Sakura had confessed her part in the ordeal? Why wasn't she punished?

 

“I-I really did!” She insisted, gripping the caretakers hand to draw her attention again.

 

“I b-bit him really, really hard b-because h-he tried to take m-my blanky!”

 

Again the caretaker stilled, looking back at her with a frown. She seemed to hesitate, before shaking her head.

 

“You are a good kid Sakura, and too kind. You don't have to cover for this troublemaker. Look, there is even blood on his shirt! You don't have to lie, sweety.”

 

She turned back to Naruto, giving him a last shake before finally releasing her grip on his arm.

  
“No dinner for you, today. Get back to your room and be quiet.” She shoved him in the direction of the house with a glare, patting Sakura's head gently as she passed her.

 

Sakura stood still. There was a gnawing sensation in her stomach, not quite unlike her ever constant hunger but different in the way it seemed to make her squeezy and tugged heavily at her heart. She could still see Naruto's scared and defeated eyes, a difference so stark against the former happiness that Sakura couldn't help but want to protect him. It wasn't fair. He had done nothing wrong but having helped her.

 

_I'ma have your back!_

 

But... but she didn't know how. The caretaker had simply ignored her words, if anything she had gotten Naruto into even more trouble than before. Tears stung her eyes as she stood alone underneath the huge tree, her hand fisted in the red blanket. The other kids were giving her a wide breath.

 

Why had the caretaker been so mean to Naruto? He... he was a cute kid. Nice and warm like sunshine and friendly as well. So why...?  
  
She was the monster, after all. Why did he get punished and not her?

 

Her scrapes and bruises ached, her sight grew even more blurry from tears. She was weak. She was weak and now the one person that had defended her, had tried to help her had to face the consequences of her actions and would hate her.

 

Tears trailed over her cheeks.

 

It was like a curse. Everyone around her got hurt or... or died.

 

She didn't want Naruto to die though. But she wanted to make it up to him. But if she got close, then maybe the men in black with the red eyes would burn him, too.

 

_And you'll have mine._

 

It would be better if she kept her distance. But that didn't mean she couldn't help him out. She would find a way, somehow, to repay his kindness. She didn't need a friend, even if she desperately wanted to have him as one. She wanted him alive to realize his dream, and maybe then... maybe then they could be friends, when he became Hokage he could make it so she was safe. And then they could be friends.

 

Sniffling she rubbed her face, trying to clear away the tears and snot with a determined frown. Maybe she didn't know what she wanted to be in the future, but she knew she wanted to make sure his dream came true.

 

Well. She would have to watch him then. Maybe she could even figure out why the caretaker was so angry at him too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been struggling to decide in which direction I want to take this story, so it's been quite a while since my last update. Muse has not been very helpful at all lately.
> 
> Hope you still enjoy it all the same :)

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY HALLOWEEN
> 
> Another Naruto story thaaat.... will... gooo... somewhere. Yes. Somewhere. We will see D:


End file.
